


Afterimage

by ZsforSs



Category: Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: Angst, Child Death, CloneEli, Cuddling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Thranto, Fffff I don't know what else to tag, Gaslighting, M/M, Minor Character Death, Next tag is a spoiler I guess?, Real Brief Sexual Situation in Chapter 2, Sharing a Bed, That's what the Explicit rating is for, The rest of the fic is probably a T, strained familial relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:35:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24820945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZsforSs/pseuds/ZsforSs
Summary: Eli didn't leave to join the Navy on the best terms,  as a trip back home with Thrawn reveals.
Relationships: Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo/Eli Vanto
Comments: 41
Kudos: 102





	1. Eli- 1st and 2nd

**Author's Note:**

> Both of those Death tags relate to the same character. They die right at the start of the fic actually.

Eli Vanto was an only child. His parents utterly adored him and they doted on him endlessly.

They had holos of him everywhere and talk about him constantly.

He grew up into an excitable little boy, prone to climbing thngs he shouldn't, but happy and loving and loud.

Smart too, though his teachers couldn't get him to sit still long enough to learn anything.

Then one day when he was ten years old he snuck out of school with some friends and went to go play in the local park.

It's all harmless fun until Eli dared one of his friends to do a backflip. His friend did and then dared him to climb the swing set. Of course, Eli did it. The dares continued until Eli was climbing the largest tree in the park. His climb started well, but when he got to the top of the tree... he slipped, and fell.

Eli Vanto hit the ground hard and didn't move again. His friends go for help immediately, but they are already too late.

Eli Vanto was dead.

* * *

His parents were devastated.

They buried their son a week later and did not move on.

How could they? Their lives for the last ten years had revolved around their son and now he was gone.

The community grieved with them, but slowly eventually, everyone else had moved on. Leaving them alone in their grief.

Finally, in an act of desperation, they went to see a cloning specialist.

The laws were very clear, only children who died young can be cloned, and at ten their son was pushing the age limit.

But their application was approved.

They don't want the stigma of being a clone to follow their son, so they began planning for a move while the cloning technicians began their work.

A fresh start was in order.

They picked up their son a few months later, and moved the same day, all the way across the planet to the new secondary branch for their shipping company.

Their new neighbors were none the wiser. To them the Vantos were just a nice couple with a new baby they clearly adored.

* * *

Eli Vanto was an only child.

His parents were utterly taken with him and they doted on him all the time.

He talked early and walked late- the family doctor thought this was because of his parents' bad habit of carrying him everywhere. His parent's didn't like that opinion one bit. They also didn't seem to like it when the doctor told them 'every baby is different.'

Eli's parents have holos of him everywhere.

“ _Mama?” Eli said, pointing at a holo on his mother's desk. “Who dat?”_

_His mother froze, and stared a long time at the picture of a little seven year old boy, before looking down at her three year old son._

“ _It's no one baby.” his mother said, and shut the holo off, tucking it away on a high shelf._

He grew up into an excitable little boy though his parents kept him on a short leash. He had a tendency to climb things, but his parents were always so upset when he did... eventually Eli learned to keep his feet on the ground.

He helped his mama and daddy with work, learning about supply and demand and fuel efficiency while most children were still learning animal sounds.

His teachers found him a quiet reserved little boy, but _incredibly_ smart.

Eli Vanto knew he was smart, everyone said so. Though he seemed to have a bad memory, if his parents can be believed.

“Eli don't play with that!” his daddy said. “Don't you remember what happened last time you planned with a cactus?”

“No?” Eli said, but he moved away from the plant. “What happened?”

“You got a handful of stickers and we had to pull them out!” his dad said. “You don't remember? It wasn't that long ago you were-” he stopped abruptly, Eli was too busy trying to remember to notice anything odd.

“I don't remember dad,” Eli said.

“Well it wasn't fun so let's not do it again alright?”

“Alright.”

* * *

When he was eleven he found a holo of himself in his parents' closet. He was eightish, he thought, but he couldn't remember this holo being taken.

When he asked his parents later his father looked away, but his mother just laughed.

“Eli baby you don't remember that trip out to the lake? You were so excited!”

Eli frowned, he remembered _a_ trip out to the lake, but he'd been smaller then and they hadn't been fishing like they had been in the holo. The fishing wasn't good at the lake, dad always took him to the river when they went fishing...

But maybe he was wrong, he and dad went fishing a lot. Maybe he was just mixed up.

* * *

The first time Eli's voice cracked his mother burst into tears.

“Mom??”

“It's nothing!” she insisted, but she looked so sad. And was still crying when she hugged him. His dad hugged him too, and then they both move on, like nothing happened.

But Eli went to bed that night feeling like he'd done something wrong. Are parents supposed to look so upset that their kids are growing up?

* * *

Eli Vanto was eighteen when it came to a head.

He felt _wrong_. His parents never said anything but it was clear he somehow wasn't meeting their expectations. He doesn't know _how_ exactly. His grades are excellent, he helps around the office and the house, he never gets in trouble... Still it was like everything he did, his parents thought he should have done something else.

One night after dinner, Mom mentioned how nice it was that Eli had finally learned to like squash.

“I've always liked squash.” Eli said, and immediately regretted it. He had more or less stopped arguing when his parents told him something that didn't match with his memories. It wasn't worth it to argue.

His mother scoffed. “Eli you haven't had squash since you were a baby. You stopped eating it when you were three. Just _refused_ to touch it anymore. You'd-”

“When we went out for dinner for my sixth birthday I ordered squash and you told me I didn't like it and made me order something else.” Eli said. “ I remember because the week before I'd spent the night at Cian's, and we'd gone out to dinner at the same place. Cian ordered the squash and I tried some and liked it. I'd never had it before then. It must have been your _other_ son who hates squash.”

It was supposed to be a joke, but both his parents looked like he'd just punched them in the stomach.

His mom started crying, and before he could apologize or ask what was wrong his Dad gently pulled him away

“Go wait in the den for us.” his dad said as he all but pushed Eli out into the hall. “You didn't do anything wrong. But we have to talk to you about something.”

“Dad what-”

“Please Eli, just go.”

So he went and sat for nearly an hour in the den, listening to his parents fighting in the kitchen. He couldn't hear what they were saying but he felt like utter shit the whole time.

And then his parents came in, with a box of holos he'd never seen.

And a birth certificate. And a _death_ certificate in his name but with dates before he was born.

* * *

That first night Eli mostly listened, not sure what he could or should ask.

The worst part was that it made sense. Every weird, out of place experience or feeling he's ever had now makes perfect, horrible, sense.

He wasn't the first Eli Vanto. He was a copy that outlasted the original.

Both his parents refer to the first Eli as _you_ when they talk to him. To them Eli was just a continuation of their first son. When Eli was different than the other Eli they seem confused, and more often than not just ignored it. He wondered how much of the gaslighting was intentional. And how much was them just, _forgetting_ that he wasn't their first child.

And it was so clear to _him_ all the ways he wasn't like this first Eli at all.

He was never as involved in sports. His grades were better. First Eli had wanted to be a pilot or a professional ball player. Eli can pilot, his parents taught him, but he's always been more of a behind the scenes type.

It seemed to him that the other Eli was more outgoing and active. He'd had more friends and gotten away with far more than Eli ever had.

Based on the creepily identical pictures of them both on their tenth birthdays the Other Eli was even a little taller than him.

(It bothered him so much, in a way he can't explain that so much of his clothing was hand-me-downs and he hadn't _known._

But his parents don't see any of that. And Eli didn't know how to tell them.

* * *

A week or so later his mom hesitantly asked if they could 'bring out all his holos.' He wanted to say no. He didn't want to have to look at a person he'd never been every day. But what was he supposed to say? 'No I don't want you to acknowledge your other son?' So he told her it was fine. And then never looked at any family pictures if he could help it.

He refused to count... until one night while his parents were out he couldn't resist. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or not that there are more pictures of him. He'd lived almost twice as long after all.

The ones he wasn't sure about bothered him the most. Was that baby at the beach in a big floppy hat him? Or the other Eli? What about the toddler asleep in his highchair? Or the six year old holding up a fish he'd caught? Which of these did he really do, and which did his parents just _tell him_ he did.

He felt like he was suffocating under the weight of his parents' memories and expectations. They loved him, he tried to remind himself, while a small insidious part of himself wondered if it was _him_ they loved at all.

Did they even know who he was?

Did _he_?

The next day he went into town looking for a distraction, anything was better than sitting at home staring at holos of the person he felt like a poor copy of.

There was a Naval Recruitment Center in town. He walked by it four times that day before working up the nerve to go in.

He wanted to be anywhere but _here_ , and when he left the Recruitment Center he had a destination and a departure date set.

His parents were upset of course, disappointed, but Eli was beyond caring.

The night before he left his dad came to his room and asked if he was sure he wanted to do this. “We'll support you either way Eli. It just, doesn't seem like this is something you'd do.”

Some invisible barrier in his mind broke.

“Well if you aren't happy with me you can always get another clone and _try again._ ” Eli snapped.

It was the worst, most hateful thing he'd ever said. And it didn't make him feel better. Watching his father's face fall like that didn't make his anger go away, it just made him feel like the biggest piece of shit imaginable,

“I'm sorry-” he said immediately. Only for his dad to reach out and hug him tight. Eli sobbed and started crying while his dad held him so tight he couldn't take full breaths.

After a long moment his dad let him go, only to take Eli's face in his hands. Eli opened his mouth to apologize but his dad spoke first.

“Don't apologize,” his dad said. He was crying too Eli realized, and looking at Eli- really _looking_ and _seeing_ him. Just him. “Don't apologize because if that's how you feel then we must have made you feel that way, and maybe some distance would be good. For all of us. Just know we love you Eli. _You._ No matter what you do.”

“I know,” Eli croaked around the lump in his throat.

The lump stayed all night. Eli didn't sleep for any of it. It lasted all through the morning goodbyes and hugs and more tears.

And then he was on the shuttle. Off to Myomar and a future that was only _his._

* * *

He felt immediately better once he settled in. Even the calls home are good, and he'd expected them to be terrible. The distance made everything that happened on Lysatra, seem far less important.

No Eli Vanto but him has ever done anything like what he's doing now. And that knowledge made him feel freer than he had in a long long time. Sometimes, _often_ , he forgot all together that there was ever another Eli to begin with.

His plans for the future were pretty straightforward. Get a post in Supply somewhere far away from home. And then just, be _him_. See what happened.

 _..._ Then _Thrawn_ happened.


	2. Thrawn

Thrawn watched Eli out of the corner of his eye as they stood on the bridge, checking the instrument panels and watching the swirls of hyperspace through the window. The closer their shuttle got to Lysatra the more Eli thrummed with nervous energy. 

Thrawn wondered if he'd made the right decision when he'd elected to take his leave on Lysatra, and asked Eli to accompany him.

But Eli had agreed. And even expressed a desire to visit his family.

They would be staying with Eli's parents- two nights in fact- before going off on an exploration of the rest of the planet. They then had two weeks of globe-trotting before spending another few days with Eli's parents before they left. It was not ideal in Thrawn's opinion. Eli's parents were not aware of their relationship, and Eli wished to keep it that way.

“ _I love my parents but...”_

It was a familiar mantra from Eli, most often concluding with _“it's better if we aren't too close.”_

Perhaps he would be able to puzzle out some of Eli's complicated relationship with his family as well as learning about Lysatra's art and history first hand.

Now though he stepped up behind Eli and slid his arms around his lover's waist. 

“Relax,” he murmured in Eli's ear. “We aren't even out of hyperspace yet.”

“Sorry,” Eli sighed, and leaned back against him. “I'm fine I'm just... nervous.”

“You have nothing to be nervous about.” Thrawn reassured him. 

“I know. That's not... quite the problem.”

A thought occurred to Thrawn, a memory of the last time Eli had been this anxious on a shuttle.

“We have ten hours before we arrive.” Thrawn pointed out. “Plenty of time to reenact our first time.”

Their first time- the night after graduation in their tiny room on their crowded troop transport to Corellia- had also been predicated by Eli being jittery over his parents.

“ _I just don't want to think.”_ Eli had told him. Normally Thrawn would have dragged Eli to the gym to spar, but there was no gym on the transport, so he had offered Eli an _alternative_ method of relief.

_Now_ Eli laughed and turned to kiss him. “If you want a blowjob all you have to do is ask.”

“I was thinking more about the other part of that evening,” Thrawn said.

This was not strictly speaking true, as they had more than enough time for both. But he knew Eli enjoyed the memory of Thrawn pinning him to the thin mattress, pulling his legs open as wide as he could on the tiny cot, and stimulating Eli's prostate until he had come untouched all over his own chest.

Eli shivered. “Your bed's big enough I'd be able to spread my legs all the way.”

It was.

Thrawn began leading Eli down the hall to his room.

“And as we are both the only passengers abroad and this shuttle has sufficient soundproofing we will not need to gag you with your own gloves,” he said.

“I _liked_ the gag,” Eli protested.

“I did too.” Thrawn said. “But tonight I would like to _hear_ you.”

Eli grinned and began unsealing his tunic as Thrawn opened the door. “Oh I _promise_ you will.”

* * *

The meeting with Eli's parents had gone well. Now that he was no longer dragging their son off his chosen career path, and had instead seen him promoted to a level he couldn't have achieved in Supply he was only an idle curiousity- an old legend made real not a threat to their son's happiness.

And the Vantos were... not smothering, but doting, and very affectionate. Perhaps the distance was what kept them from becoming smothering?

He noticed that they never chided Eli for his lack of visits or calls, something he had expected.

It seemed to Thrawn that the three of them were all ignoring something, some buried fight or event, that had damaged the family unit enough they didn't feel safe discussing it.

Thrawn resolved to try to pry answers from Eli later, preferably once they were out of the house.

For now he turned to examining the décor of the Vanto family home.

The art was something of a hodge-podge and Eli explained his mother would often go to markets and swap meets and bring home anything that caught her fancy.

With that in mind the art spoke to someone who was deeply family oriented, but stubborn, obsessive almost.

As if the pictures of Eli in various states of childhood scattered around the entire house weren't proof enough of that.

Thrawn now had a detailed picture of Eli's growth from baby to young man. The pictures were everywhere- even the otherwise personality-less guest bedroom he was staying in had a collection of pictures of Eli.

He didn't give them much thought until he was preparing for bed that night, and he noticed one holo in particular.

Eli was small, four or five, smiling at the camera with a missing front tooth and a cast on one arm...

That bore further investigating.

* * *

He got his chance to ask Eli about the picture sooner than expected. He woke considerably before his hosts and had been reading in his room when there was a flurry of activity in the rest of the house.

He was about to step out of his room to see what was happening when Eli entered, clad in pajamas.

“There's some crisis at the shipping yard.” Eli explained. “It sounds like someone loaded some cargo onto the wrong ship to me. My folks're gonna go figure it out... so we're on our own for at least an hour.”

Thrawn heard the _implications_ in Eli's voice, but he had questions. Many questions.

“How did you break your arm?” he asked, gesturing at the picture on the wall.

Eli turned to look at the image, clearly confused by the turn in the conversation. “I was walking along the top of a wall when I was little. I fell and landed funny on it, broke my radius bone.” he gestured to the general area of the fracture on his arm. “Why do you ask?” he said, turning back to face Thrawn.

Thrawn gently reached out and ran his fingers along Eli's arm. “After the bombing on Layerno medical did a full skeletal scan of us both.” he explained. “I've seen your scan Eli. You don't have any fracture scars.”

He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting. He nearly hadn't brought it up at all except it was strange- something he couldn't explain and he knew it would bother him he _didn't_ ask.

He was not expecting Eli to _wilt_ , like Thrawn had shattered his self confidence in a single blow. He sat on the bed, drew his knees up to his chest, and hid his face in his knees.

Unsure how to proceed Thrawn sat beside Eli and waited several minutes before speaking. “Eli?”

Eli's head snapped up and he immediately wiped at his wet eyes. “Sorry I just... I thought I'd gotten everything straight. Guess not.”

Thrawn didn't know what he meant. “You've been uneasy since before we arrived,” Thrawn said.

His mind had run on, searching for possibilities. Abuse had been his first thought, perhaps the cast had concealed another injury- or was a result of parental attention seeking, but nothing in Eli's interactions with his parents spoke of _fear_ , old or current.

Flaws in childhood memories were not uncommon- but this was not just a flaw, there was a recorded image of Eli in a cast he didn't need. What had happened and why, if it had upset Eli this much, did his parents display a picture of it?

“Will you tell me what's going on?” Thrawn asked.

Eli's body language said _no_ , but after a long moment he nodded. Then he got up and left the room.

He was back seconds later, before Thrawn had done more than stand to follow him, holding a large wood box with a built in lock.

He sat back down on the bed and entered a string of numbers- his birthdate, Thrawn realized- into the lock. The lock flashed red, and Eli muttered “Other birthday” to himself.

Thrawn sat opposite Eli as he typed in an unfamiliar string of digits and the box opened.

“I-” Eli started- and stopped as his voice broke. He tried for a moment to compose himself before giving up and just shoved the box at Thrawn. 

Thrawn took the box and watched for a moment as Eli looked everywhere but at him or it. He was wringing his hands the way he used to do when he was uncomfortable. Thrawn turned his attention to the box.

There were a number of documents, actual paper copies as was more common on planets in Wild Space. The top most document was a copy of Eli's birth certificate. He'd seen a holocopy of this before. But under that was a death certificate for... Eli Vanto. Though this Eli was a child who had died by misadventure roughly 11 months before Eli- his Eli- was born. The birth certificate for this other Eli was next and then a contract. A contract between _Second Chances Lysatra_ and the Vantos- Eli's parents.

A contract detailing the exchanging of an astronomical amount of credits for “one (1) healthy clone developed from the provided sample and artifically gestated for nine (9) months.” The contract went on to limit the company's liability if something happened to the cloned infant but Thrawn stopped reading.

Eli was staring down at his clenched hands and breathing strangely.

Thrawn put the documents away, setting the box on the floor. “I have seen anti-clone sentiment in the Empire, but only directed at clones from the former Republic army. Did you face any issues growing up?”

Eli shook his head, “No one knew, not even _me._ My parents moved right after they got me, all the way across the planet... There probably would have been a few assholes, if people did know. Not many though, individual cloning's so rare most people don't have strong opinions on it one way or the other.”

“When did you find out?” Thrawn asked.

“A few months before I joined the Navy,” Eli said. “... I really thought I'd sorted out which memories were actually _mine_.”

“Did they lie to you about your childhood?” Thrawn asked- too pointedly.

Eli shook his head, immediately defensive. “It wasn't like that. They... they forgot sometimes too. They didn't do it on purpose.”

That, was _krayt spit_. You didn't forget that you'd cloned your child after their untimely death. Unless perhaps you were pretending nothing had-

...That was likely exactly what had happpened.

And when their second child had inevitably been different than their first? Living in a different place, at a different time, with parents older and undoubtedly more cautious than before there was no way Eli _wouldn't_ have been different from the child in their memories.

Eli's tendency to go along with things he didn't want to, how he shrank when people pointed out how he was unique... A number of things made a terrible amount of sense.

Thrawn pulled Eli into his lap, settling Eli up against his chest. Eli drapped his arms around Thrawn's shoulders, hiding his face in Thrawn's neck. Eli was crying, quietly. Thrawn could feel him shaking against him. Thrawn held Eli tight, and ran his fingers through Eli's hair in a way he hoped was soothing.

Thrawn held Eli for a long time, letting him cry.

“I'm sorry-” Eli began.

“Shhhhh...” Thrawn cut him off. “You have nothing to apologized for.”

“Are you mad?”

“No. Of course not.” He pulled back a little, taking Eli's face in his hands and making Eli look at him.

“I do not care.” Thrawn said. “I do not care if there was another Eli before you. I care about _you._ You who I met at a very specific time and place in my life. And you who has changed my life and myself in ways I could never have anticipated. Who would I be, if I had never met you? I do not believe I wish to know. You did all that Eli. Not any other person with the same name.”

Eli sniffed. “Thank you.” he murmured. “I don't- I don't usually worry about it but it's... this is the first time I've been home since.”

Thrawn laid back on his bed, pulling Eli with him so Eli lay on top of Thrawn.

“You are exceptional, and utterly unique,” Thrawn said. “I am sorry your parents didn't treat you that way.”

Eli didn't protest this time, he just burried his face in Thrawn's chest and wept again.

Thrawn held Eli, and let him cry. He mentally reworked their schedule, so they would not have time to revisit Eli's parents once they left tomorrow. He'd ask Eli before confirming anything of course but... he was not looking forward to a repeat of this. Avoiding it would be ideal.

Eventually Eli quieted and looked up at Thrawn.

“Not a great start to your vacation huh?” he said.  
  
Thrawn stroked Eli's hair. “You are always excellent company.”

Eli laughed. “I don't feel it right now.”

“You are more than allowed to feel upset.” Thrawn said. “It sounds like you did not have much time to process this before you left.”

“No.” Eli admitted. “I... _really_ didn't.”

Thrawn heard the speeder pulling up, and informed Eli. “Your parents are back.”

Eli winced. “I don't want to talk to my parents,” he said.

Thrawn nodded. “Then we won't.”

Eli sighed. “We can't hide from them all day.”

“I disagree.” Thrawn said. He went to his bags and pulled out a set of civilian clothes for Eli-including shoes. “Here. Get dressed.”

Eli laughed, “Why do you have a set of my clothes?” he asked.

“In case your luggage was lost.” Thrawn said. “I know you have a set of my clothes as well.”

Eli smiled, knowing Thrawn was right. He dressed quickly, as did Thrawn, in their civilian clothing.

Thrawn opened the bedroom window. Eli laughed again, quietly.

“Are we sneaking out like naughty teenagers?”

“Did you sneak out this way?” Thrawn asked. “I always went out the back door at my home.”

“Yeah, well, out _my own_ window but it's almost the same. Here, I'll show you the trick to it.”

Eli slipped out the window, standing on the windowsill and reached up, pulling himself onto the roof instead of dropping to the ground.

Thrawn helped boost him up, and followed after. “And now?” he asked once they were both on the roof.

Eli led Thrawn carefully across the home's roof to the adjoining roof of the speeder bay, waiting until Eli's parents were inside before proceeding. From there it was easy to hop onto the woodpile stacked along the edge of the bay, and then to the ground.

“I assume we can return the same way if we need?” Thrawn asked.

“Yep.”

Thrawn hummed thoughtfully, “Where should we go now?”

Eli shrugged.

“Where did you used to go when you snuck out?” Thrawn asked.

“When I wasn't going to a friend's house?” Eli said. “The creek.”

“Show me?”

Eli smiled. “Yeah.” he squeezed Thrawn's hand. “It's this way.”

* * *

The creek was in a small copse of trees between the Vanto residence and the rest of the town.

Eli had waded out into the creek, shoes in hand and told Thrawn about how when he was small he'd come out here and look for treasure in the tiny rush of water.

They spent the rest of the day exploring Eli's hometown. Eli took Thrawn to his favorite shops and places.

It was not _surprising_ that Eli had haunted bookstores, second hand shops and gaming centers. But seeing was different from knowing. Eli's favorite bookstore had a second level, accessible only by an antique spiral staircase, and as they'd gone up Eli had turned around and walked up the stairs backwards while still speaking to him. The action was clearly muscle memory. Thrawn had seen Eli walk backwards dozens of times, but seeing it here, where the action had been first cemented in to Eli's mind was _fascinating_.

They stayed out all day- even eating dinner at a tiny restaurant in a back alley. The chef had come out of the kitchen and hugged Eli. He had then taken one look at Thrawn and given Eli a _look_.

“ _Oh shut up Ci_.” Eli had laughed, though 'Ci' hadn't said anything.

The meal was delicious, and during it Eli had explained that the chef- Cian Delio had been his best friend growning up. Admittedly largely by virtue of proximity- the Delios living next door. Still Thrawn could see how the jovial, energetic man in the kitchen would have meshed well with Eli's personality.

When they finally arrived back at Eli's parent's house it was late, and they went straight to bed after bidding Eli's parents good night.

Thrawn waited until he heard Mr. and Mrs. Vanto head to bed themselves. Then he got up climbed out his window and up onto the roof, using the method Eli had shown him and picked his way over to Eli's bedroom window. He lowered himself carefully onto the window ledge and tapped at the window.

He had chosen wisely, Eli was clearly having a rough time.

“What're you doin'?” Eli asked, his voice rough as he opened his window.

“Coming to stay with you.” Thrawn said as he slid into the room.

Eli just nodded, and the pair tried to settle on the room's single bed. It was a tight fit but Thrawn held Eli close and they made it work.

Eli was quiet, but not sleepy. Indeed he seemed wide awake from his spot curled close against Thrawn's chest.

Thrawn looked down at Eli, who watched him thoughtfully with his hypnotic dark eyes.

So different from Chiss eyes... it was one of the first things about Eli he had noticed once they were face to face. Thrawn brought a hand up to trace along the curve of Eli's cheek.

“How are you?” he asked.

“Better.” Eli said.

Thrawn wasn't sure if that was accurate, and 'better' was not the ideal answer, but they had time to work on it.

“Whatever you need from me, whenever you need it; it is yours _ch'eo ch'acah_ ,” he said.

Eli smiled with a quavering lip. “Just being here is good for now,” he said. “Thank you.”

Thrawn could tell there was something else on Eli's mind, so he prompted him, just a bit.

“What's troubling you?”

“It's stupid.” Eli muttered.

“I doubt that very much.” Thrawn said. “Tell me?”

"The local laws clearly state only young children- babies really can be cloned. My parents never mention it but they _definitely_ had to bribe someone. _Probably with a lot of money._ And then they got _me_ instead of a carbon copy of their first kid."

"You are perfect." Thrawn protested. "I mean it." he said as Eli scoffed. 

"I know you do," Eli said. "Thank you."

Thrawn held Eli tightly. "Rest." he said and pressed a soft kiss to Eli's forehead. "We have a big day ahead of us."


End file.
